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Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/24/lebanon-economic-crisis-war-israel/
For Lebanon, a War with Israel Would Be Catastrophic
(Washington Post) Mohamad El Chamaa - Wages for Lebanon's soldiers have fallen so low that many now have second jobs. A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to support the country's emergency response services. Since 2019, the country's gross domestic product has fallen by 50%, and poverty now plagues 80% of the population. A wider war between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hizbullah along Lebanon's southern border would be catastrophic. Simon Neaime, an economics professor at the American University of Beirut, said, "The situation is totally different today. In 2006, during the last war with Israel, we had a fully functioning economy, we had a functional banking system supplying credit to the private sector and contributing to growth, we had a government in place, we had a president." The country has been without a president for a year, and a functioning government for almost two. The currency has lost more than 90% of its value since 2019.